Celebrating and Recognizing Volunteers
Common tools to show appreciation
Volunteer recognition can be complex, but starting with a few strategies and planning out your efforts can make a huge difference. Start by mapping out any bigger items in an annual calendar, and work your way down into the details after that.
With creativity and effort, you can find ways to spotlight the impact of individual and collective volunteers. Some of the most common methods to recognize volunteers are:
- Volunteer Appreciation Events
- Annual volunteer appreciation events, such as receptions, luncheons, dinners, and award ceremonies.
- Plan these out for the year, or as far in advance as possible. This will help ensure that when events are organized, they fit into the workflow of your organization.
- Take time to consider all the factors for when you may want to plan events, example: hosting a celebration in the last week of December is typically not a good time as many people will be less available, leading to reduced attendance.
- Media
- Media coverage, which spreads the word about the good work of your volunteers and your organization. Work with your organizations marketing/communications team, as this can include both traditional media (radio, TV, print, etc), as well as your organizations social media channels. You may want to plan media promotions around volunteer-related events that happen a few times a year (noted below).
- Gifts/Swag
- Giving t-shirts, coffee mugs, and other items displaying your organization's logo helps encourage a feeling of belonging and connection to your organization. Other items may include movie passes, tickets to concerts or sporting events, or gift certificates for a seated massage or manicure. Obviously not all organizations have the same kind of swag, or your budget in these areas may be limited. Most notable, is that you will likely want to scale what kinds of recognition are offered, based on how you've measured the impact of each particular volunteer.
- If you decide to recognize contributions with gifts, we suggest you track to whom, why and how much has been provided. This will ensure more transparency when you are reviewing the effectiveness of gifts - and ensure you don't miss providing them to any superstar volunteers!
- A special note is that in many cases volunteers may appreciate lower cost gifts, as too many expensive-seeming gifts could concern some volunteers who would rather see more money spent on programs. Keep in touch with your volunteers to understand where they fit in this view.
- Special Events
- National Volunteer Week. Generally this event occurs the third week of April, from Sunday to Saturday.
- International Day of the Volunteer - December 5 each year.
- These events honour people who donate their time and energy to various organizations and causes. You might want to use these events as a special time to recognize volunteers, or highlight special themes such as overall volunteer impact.
- Individual Volunteer Specific Celebrations
- You can create your own celebration schedule to recognize birthdays, special milestones, and different cultural or thematic holidays that match your organization and volunteers.
- Ensure if you are tracking volunteer specific information to follow applicable privacy and data use laws.
- Examples of special milestones can include: volunteer hours or shifts completed, volunteer-lead initiatives and successes, a volunteer taking on a new role (such as training other volunteers, or other leadership-related tasks).
- You can create your own celebration schedule to recognize birthdays, special milestones, and different cultural or thematic holidays that match your organization and volunteers.
Take the time to plan and discuss with your team (and volunteers) what are the best ways to recognize their contributions. Remember that volunteer recognition can vary greatly due to many factors:
- Organizational culture and budget
- Individual volunteer preferences
- No matter your organization, there will certainly be some volunteers who like to be recognized more in certain ways above others
- We recommend you approach volunteer recognition by using at least 2 streams above to try and fit with more volunteer preferences
- Cultural considerations
Remember that volunteers who feel recognized are more likely to stay motivated, volunteer longer, and even help recruit or retain other volunteers. Approaching volunteer recognition with sincerity and and open mind will help ensure you have the right start. And remember that every organization can find and refine the best ways to celebrate your volunteers!
Read the inspiration for our article here:
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2005). Successful Strategies for Recruiting, Training, and Utilizing Volunteers. Rockville: DHHS Publication No. (SMA) 05-4005 .
